THE "INCORRECT" WAY TO TREAT CRIMINALS

It’s hard for me to think of a job that’s more frustrating these days than that of a local cop. Day in and day out, local police officers and sheriff’s deputies lay their lives on the line in an effort to bring criminals to justice.

However, shortly after they bring these punks to the jailhouse, the lawbreakers are out on the streets again, free to commit even more heinous crimes. It seems that many of today’s lawbreakers are nothing more than career criminals. You and I, as taxpayers, foot the bill for their care and feeding much of the time. And for that investment, what do we get? More crime, more frustration, more burned-out cops.

But Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County Arizona believes he has a better way. And for his crime-fighting efforts, he’s re-elected time and time again. What is the secret of Sheriff Joe’s success? To put it bluntly, he treats criminals like criminals. The convicts in his charge lose the precious privileges they might have at other correctional institutions.

For instance, they have no right to smoke. They have no right to read pornographic magazines. They have no write to bulk themselves up with state-of-the-art weightlifting equipment. And they have no right to see “R” movies in the cellblocks. Oh—and they have to pay for their meals—just like the rest of us do. Shocking? Maybe. But I say it’s a good shock to the system, one that just might reduce the repeat offender rate.

The sheriff’s inmates are required to work on county and city projects, providing local governments with no-cost labor. Interestingly enough, Sheriff Joe even started chain gangs for women so he would not be sued for discrimination.

Initially, he eliminated cable TV from jail, until he discovered there was a federal court order to require it. When he hooked up the cable again, he only permitted two stations: Disney and the Weather Channel. Cruel and unusual punishment? Hardly. That’s the type of punishment you’d give your seventeen-year-old for refusing to mow the lawn.

The sheriff even went so far as to purchase the Newt Gingrich lecture series, which he plays in the jails. When a reporter asked him if he had a lecture series by a Democrat, he noted that a Democratic lecture series might explain why many of the inmates where in jail in the first place.

When inmates complained after the sheriff took away their coffee (which has no nutritional value), he responded, “This isn’t the Ritz-Carlton. If you don’t like it, don’t come back.”

Convicts are human beings and they deserve to be treated with dignity. However, the fact of the matter is they have broken the law and many of them have little respect for law enforcement officers, their own grandmothers, and even themselves. Criminals do not need coddling. They need discipline. If their parents or caregivers failed to supply it when they were young, it’s up to people like Sheriff Joe to supply it in the best way he knows how.

Liberals may cringe at the sheriff’s tent city jails, but the accommodations are certainly no worse than what our brave fighting men and women face in Iraq and other hot spots around the world. Sheriff Joe issued his own fighting words when he said, “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!”

We need more Sheriff Joes—jail keepers who are not afraid to run their jails like, well, jails. To make a criminal understand the severity of his actions…to make him see that only misery awaits him if he violates the law again…is actually the responsible, loving thing to do. True, it’s tough love—but sometimes that’s the only kind of love that works.

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"PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT" OR PROPAGANDA?

“I am calling upon TVC supporters to contact their local CBS affiliates to ask that they refuse to air any public service announcements by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) next week during ‘As The World Turns,’” said Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director Andrea Lafferty today. “The underlying message of GLAAD’s PSA is that anyone who opposes homosexual conduct is prejudiced or intolerant. This is propaganda, not accurate information.”

Lafferty is responding to news that CBS has joined with GLAAD to place a PSA in “As The World Turns” to reinforce the message in the show about a boy who tells his parents he’s a homosexual. “GLAAD is using free advertising to push a message about homosexuality that is not true,” said Lafferty. “The homosexual condition is not in-born or unchangeable. Thousands of ex-homosexuals can attest to this fact and their testimonies are well documented by Exodus International.

GLAAD, says Lafferty is seriously misleading the American people about the nature of homosexuality and using its influence to censor what Americans read and see on TV and in movies about homosexuality. “GLAAD brags on its web site about the influence it has over Hollywood screenwriters and has even published a media guide to tell journalists how to report on homosexuality. They also tell journalists how to avoid giving a fair and balanced view of the other side on this issue. Ex-homosexual groups, psychological groups like the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, and organizations like TVC are to be debunked, marginalized or ignored,” said Lafferty.

“GLAAD’s message in its PSA will be to stigmatize any person who thinks that homosexual conduct is immoral or abnormal,” said Lafferty. “The fact is that most people of faith believe that homosexuality is a sinful behavior and that it can be healed. GLAAD is telling Americans that their religious beliefs are wrong—when there is a wealth of scientific evidence that homosexual conduct is dangerous physically and emotionally to the individual.”

“The underlying anti-religious bigotry of GLAAD must be rejected by all Americans and CBS affiliates should refuse to run their inaccurate PSAs next week,” said Lafferty.

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SOME "PATRIOTISM" SHOULD BE QUESTIONED

I don't think I can stomach one more wishy-washy Republican making the point that he's not questioning someone's patriotism, when in fact that person's patriotism is exactly what must be questioned. Many who claim to be patriots are not patriots at all, at least not of this country. They want another United States of America, one that doesn't exist but in the fantasies of their minds. The country of their affections is one in which:

* God is not a part
* Christians are not taken seriously
* Popular opinion is the acceptable standard of morality
* The Government's job is to provide for the needs of the people
* The wealth of the rich is to be redistributed to others
* Homosexuality and pornography are to be accepted as normal and healthy
* Citizens are not one nation under God (melting pot) but rather many nations (salad bowl) under many gods, or no god at all, different sub-cultures competing for a bigger slice of the American pie.

These characteristics do not describe the historical nature of our country, which has always found its stability in the sovereignty of God, and in His laws as we have come to understand them.

There is a socialist revolution afoot intent on replacing the America we know with one we don't know. These revolutionaries are not patriots, but rather subversives, and they must be identified as such. Most Republicans I hear demonstrate an ignorant naivete when they presume that these liberal revolutionaries are dealing in "good faith" because they too are patriotic Americans. Hogwash! They are subversives who will lie, cheat, steal and do whatever they must for the cause of their atheistic socialist revolution. Republicans will lose elections, and America will lose its liberty, because of the ignorance and spinelessness on the part of Republicans.

This is nothing less than political warfare. Traditionalists must rise up to fight to preserve our nation and its systems and institutions against atheistic socialists who see their revolution as social progress. My heart yearns to hear a national leader proclaim, "No more Mr. Nice Guy. From now on we will fight to preserve this "One Nation Under God." Then perhaps our children may have the opportunity to defend it again in their time against this persistent enemy. When I was sworn into the Air Force many years ago I swore to protect our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The truth is we still have enemies both foreign and domestic. It's time we identified the enemy and questioned patriotism.

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